Build Strategy

Attunement Setup

Power Within (only cast this with the non-upgraded pyro flame to reduce loss of hp/sec, does not affect the power increase)

Ring of Favor and Protection is a must have for the increase in Equip Load alone. The added HP is very useful too.

Armor of Thorns can help prevent being backstabbed while rolling because the roll damage it deals can interrupt a backstab attempt (not guaranteed but reliable enough)

Armor setup can be tweaked to personal taste but the poise breakpoint for taking a single hit from an ultra great sword without being stun locked is 76, so equipping a family mask or some other armor that lowers poise too much will ruin your setup. Poise is more important than defense.

The extra 5 points of endurance is not entirely necessary but gives much more freedom in terms of equipment setup. For a character with only 40 endurance use weapon setup 1 without the avelyn. Weapon setup 2 requires, I think, at least 42-43 endurance.

Power Within is very dangerous and is my own personal taste simply because I rarely see it used. It will give some massive damage when two-handing the chaos blade but many people are not willing to fight you and will run until you are dead, gaining a free kill -_- If you don't plan on using Power Within then switch the non-upgraded pyro flame for something else. Proper strategic use of Power Within can be deadly but is more often than not just suicide, it is best used against someone who has just buffed their weapon because they are less likely to run away.